Build a Better Caias

Caias Ward is a guy who used to weigh 315 pounds and then lost 100 pounds in a few months. As a result his skin got all loose and saggy. He's hoping to get plastic surgery to help tighten his skin, but the bill for the operation is $14,098, which he can't afford. So this is his solution:

I need 7500 people to donate $2.32 so I can get my surgery. If people want to give me more, that's great, but $2.32 is the number I'm looking for from people. If you don't feel comfortable just donating money, I'm willing to do a number of outrageous (or not so outrageous) things in order to earn your money. The amount you send will determine what I am willing to do.

The obvious question this raises is whether it's for real, or is it all an elaborate sob story to scam money? Caias says: "some people have requested proof that I am a real person. It's completely understandable, and I appreciate the concern in this day and age. I'm working on a way to prove my circumstance, from the exam photos for the surgery consultation all the way to 'meet and greets' in the New York and New Jersey area." Caias sounds like a real person, but even so, what if he decides in the end not to get the operation because he only gets halfway to his financial goal? Will he return whatever money he received? Donate it to charity? Or what? That was the main problem with Invest In My Breast (if anyone remembers that scam).

More content from the Hoax Museum:

Comments

But what the guy is asking for is that other people give him money so he does not have to earn it himself.

Who cares if it's e-panhandling? Lots of people. Including Caias, apparently. This is important because we are a part of the general public, and that's who sees his site. If the general public that happens upon his site doesn't like panhandlers, they're not going to give him any money, are they?

Why would he not just have a site selling his books? I would think that he'd get a lot more cash if he asked you to buy his books so he can afford his operation.

I read his blog, and in one part he states that he's not asking anyone to "spread the word" for him. Yet only six days earlier he opens his entry with " Alright, word is spreading, but I need help.
I need people to put the banner in their own Livejournals, with it as an public entry. If you know me directly, feel free to say something not incredibly terrible about me. If not, just let people know it's a cool idea."

He does list some good ideas (tutoring, etc), but come on, is this guy seriously gonna snort pepper if someone asks him? For $2.32, like he says?

This man is a prostitute.
Before you freak, look it up.

If it was not for cosmetic surgury, people would likely have no problem giving him a little cash. The exact same people who have given him cash now. And lotsa people would STILL say it was a hoax.

And nobody said the man didn't exist. HE is not the hoax referrred to. What he is DOING is what people are referring to as a hoax.

Posted by Rod in the land of smarties. on Tue Mar 22, 2005 at 10:04 PM

Sarah/k4tj3 said - It just makes him desperate to do something to make his life better. Thats more than I can say about a lot of people in this world.

I can say that I am sometimes desperate to do something to make my life better. But, unlike Caias, I don't ask other people to do it for me. If I can't achieve my own goals in life then how can I respect myself?

Posted by Charybdis in Hell on Tue Mar 22, 2005 at 10:06 PM

Ok, so according to some people, I can't post in a blog that I am raising money for surgery, and I will do stuff to earn money. I also have to not promote myself. Or ask people to spread the word about what I am doing.

I did lots of the hard work in losing the weight and working out. I'm asking for people to spread the message of what I am doing (fundraising for surgery). It's the same thing I do in my consulting work; refer me to others.

As for buying my books, much of my work is work for hire, so buying copies doesn't put money in my pocket. I've already been paid a flat fee for my work.

And Charybdis, that's former fat man, thank you very much. I'm getting the surgery for a better body contour and to help my sleep. No illusions about anything else. I would prefer to earn the money rather than get a donation, and pretty much every dollar I've gotten has been in exchange for goods or services. How many paintings have you done this week? I've done three.

In fact, I have a deal; find some good or service you need, and I'll see what I can do to fulfill it. You can continue donating money to whatever charities you donate to; I'll see what I can provide in real services or goods.

And no, I won't snort pepper for $2.32. I'll do it for $3.75, however

Johnny Knoxville does it, it's great TV; I do it, it's being a prostitute?

A site just selling books won't get me noticed. A site where I sell my books, break boards with my head, and do many other outrageous things got me noticed enough to show up here. And the marketing has worked. Buy stuff from me or not, pay me for my outrageous stunts or not, your call. But someone will.

Not much I can say otherwise; you aren't likely to change your mind about this. You don't believe in it, that's fine. But all I need is for a maximum of 7500 people to get involved. You don't have to be one of them.

Posted by Caias Ward in West Orange, NJ on Tue Mar 22, 2005 at 10:47 PM

Ooops, yes, I had forgotten the $3.75 price by the time I had reached the bottom of the page

And hey, I have never ONCE in my entire LIFE combined the words Johnny Knoxville and great tv in the same conversation. Until just now.

In that vein, why not make a video of yourself doing something stupid, like snorting pepper, and charge people $2.32 (or $3.75) to download it? People seem to like that stupid crap, as evidence by JK's "career".

Prostitute - defn
2. One who sells one's abilities, talent, or name for an unworthy purpose.

I believe this describes what you are doing, as this surgery is not medically neccesary. Are you gonna die if you don't get the surgery?

And yes, your site DID get you noticed here. Judge the results of that yourself.

I wouldn't do it myself, but hey, if you want to do it, do it. You have the right. Carry on.

And yes, someone WILL give you the cash, eventually, if you work hard enough at it. I agree with you there.

People can get cash for doing stupid crap all they want.

But it won't be MY cash.

Posted by Rod in the land of smarties. on Tue Mar 22, 2005 at 11:38 PM

I have floating cartlidge in my knee from when I hurt it in a, ummm, barfight, yeah. But thats not the point. Anyway, I need sugery and I have insurance but THEY tell me I need $500.00 up front to meet my deductable, and THEY refuse to just bill me for it. Now, I NEED help. When my knee twists wrong, just the slightest twist, the cartlidge gets wedged in my Knee cap causing Horrible pain, and I do not have full use of it. It takes around a week or two to "PoP" it out. This happens about once or twice a month. I, MYSELF, DO not go on the internet to beg. It is my responsibility. If someone gives me money (hint) that is fine, but I am not going to ask for it from people I don't know.

He's real and has a real need. He's got lots of chutzpah and a strong personality, more than I can say for most people. When he says he's going to do something, he does it - which makes me proud of him and proud of knowing him. I've known him for a few years. I'm real, and you can see me and mine around the web - look for nervavels around. Any further proof - well, this is the age of cynicism backed by the unfortunate presence of truly evil people who will use what is a basic human response to help and pervert it into suspicion and fear. Caias is real. I only wish more people were as real as he were.

I like how they won't call it begging, because it makes the person look bad, even though that is exactly what it is.

"We don't use the term cyberbeggars, cyberbegging or cyberbeg on our site because we think they are at least a little degrading."

Posted by Rod in the land of smarties. on Sun Apr 03, 2005 at 10:58 PM

For anyone that sick and twisted, Caias has photos of his flappy skin from a doctor's visit. You have to email him and ask, though.

And it appears that a week has gone by without anyone getting any. (Pictures, that is)

He says he's up to around $1000.

Mostly from work and selling things, not, unfortunately, by running his own version of Jackass.

Posted by Rod in the land of smarties. on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 05:04 PM

Actually, Rod, I have sent pictures to several people, either people interested in my situation or (in one case) a medical student.

Actually, 1,400 dollars is more like it. And I have done some crazy things like the pepper snorting and letting a friend of mine give me a DDT. I've also edited someone's paper on Japanese economic policy, and am working on editing one for a report on binge drinking and college students.

Ever forward

Posted by Caias Ward in West Orange, New Jersey on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 06:01 PM

Simply reported what I had read on your site, Caias.

Posted by Rod in the land of smarties. on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 06:08 PM

Not a problem. Glad to see that my situation is of such interest to you.

I need to do an update soon; I have been busy with a new consulting position I got through my fundraising efforts.

Posted by Caias Ward in West Orange, New Jersey on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 06:11 PM

Don't CIA guys always say they're in 'consulting', in the movies?

Either that or Import/Export?

Posted by Rod in the land of smarties. on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 06:19 PM

Caias is real.

Part of being free in this country is deciding whether or not you wish to part with $2.32 towards surgery no medical plan would cover.

Caias is granting a wish of mine that costs nothing but trust.

He would not accept the money I offered in exchange for my wish.

I find him noble.

I believe in him more than I believe in the NYS lottery.

Good wishes to Caias.

Posted by Susan in New York State on Thu Jun 30, 2005 at 01:53 AM

I have MET Caias Ward and let me tell you something, you are all mean hateful people. I guess if he was a big movie star, you would have no problems understanding. But since he's a sweet honest regular guy who doesn't have the tons of cash to make himself better, he asks for help and you people bash him. The scary thing is, its a shame. I hope none of you ever need help.

Posted by TattoodCowgirlNJ in NJ on Wed Oct 05, 2005 at 11:50 AM

Prostitute
"One who sells one's abilities, talent, or name for an unworthy purpose."

Were prostitution the case, then your local convenience store vendor is as much a whore as you assume Caias is. I mean really, they're selling goods/services for your money - yet, when it comes to purchasing your pack of Marlboros and a six pack every day, yet you don't consider your local convenience vendor a whore. And honestly, you know that they're selling product to line THEIR pockets.

He's not asking you to GIVE him money. He's requesting donations for services and/or goods.

[x]The excess skin could cause sores and/or infections.
Considering the fact that Caias has a considerable amount of life in him, the duration of time and the financial requirement for constant daily antibiotics would far succeed the one time fee for an abdominoplasty; which, by the way, would remedy the health issue as well as mental stability.

[x]The excess skin causes discomfort in and of itself even withOUT sores/infection.
Consider yourself, a male, carrying around an excess of weight on your front and back for the rest of your life. It would be something equivalent to being pregnant indefinitely.
The same circumstances apply; lower and upper back pain, knee displacement, arthritic pain, the possibility of diabetes and the possibility of extreme anemia - just to name a few.

[x]Garments even if fitted in larger sizes to accommodate the excess skin, are not comfortable, can cause rashes and/or the equivalent of "rug burn".
When YOUR garments and clothing fit too tightly, they often leave creases and marks in your skin - imagine what this would do to a person with several pounds of extra useless meat. When your garments fit too loosely, you're constantly pulling them up and in some cases, have to suffer through chafing. The same applies doubly for those that have the abundance of skin. With the amount of excess skin in question, there is no comfort zone.

I do believe that mentally, these issues would be enough to cause anyone distress and depression. I'd hate to know that I'd have to live on medication and pain for the rest of my existence.

Personally, I think Caias's actions are commendable. He's taken every step necessary to lose weight, has been consistent with his training and physical routines, he keeps up steadily with his diet.
He's asking for help and in return, he's offering help.

If you don't like it, you're not required to donate. But I'd be willing to bet that you read through every one of those entries to find a reason to snivel and whine about what you consider "prostitution" and "stupid". But wait, it gets better. I'll bet that you were soooo appalled by the story that you just HAD to forward it to your friends.

Bravo! Go you and THANKS for helping my friend!
(I mean really, if you were going to spend all that time reading, you could've saved yourself a couple of hours and just donated the two and a half bucks.)

Posted by Melanie* in Illinois on Fri Nov 04, 2005 at 05:45 PM

Oh God, the Caias loonies are back in town.

First of all, he IS asking us to give him money. As stated many, many times before, he was relying mainly on DONATIONS.

I commend Caias for losing the weight, but I condemn him for begging other people, including us, to help him feel better about his looks. That's narcissistic and moochy. As I said before, get a job and do it yourself. Don't prey on people's emotions for financial gain.

If that concept is beyond you, then I'm sorry. I can't make it any more clear than that. Caias is either incredibly lazy or a con man. Your protestations against either are meaningless since we have no way to verify that anything he or any of his supporters, or naysayers for that matter, says is truthful. I can get 100 people to come on here and tell you how great and honest I am, but it's still a lie until proven.

Posted by Charybdis in Hell on Fri Nov 04, 2005 at 06:15 PM

Actually, the majority of the money I have accumulated has been for work I have done or things I have sold. About 250 dollars has been 'donations', and that has been from people who know me directly for the most part.

I work as a consultant, which is my job at the moment. Not preying on people's emotions. I'm offering services and goods with the hook that there is a worthwhile goal. Certainly not lazy, as I've been the contributing author of 7 books. Not a con man, far as I know.

Please let me know where it says I am mainly relying on donations, because I am curious. Once a consulting check comes in next week, I will break the 3k mark on the fund. This is for **work** I've done.

But it seems that some people will latch onto what they believe and say it to their dying breath. Once the surgery is done, will that be enough proof for you? I'll be more than willing to share the pictures of before and after with you then.

Caias

Posted by Caias on Fri Nov 04, 2005 at 06:42 PM

My goodness. He's not asking for anyone to do ANYTHING for him. If you want to donate, donate. If you want to ask him to do something for pay, so be it. He's not prostituting himself. He's working, btw, in all sorts of things, freelance and regular. He, like any human being, is entitled to ask for a little help to achieve his goals. If you don't want to, don't be so petty as to badmouth his efforts. Caias is a hardworking man who is trying to achieve what most of us take for granted.

Posted by Nerva Ramos on Fri Nov 04, 2005 at 08:50 PM

What sort of product or service can I expect for $2.32? What, you'll squirt a lemon in your eye? How is that a service? You state that you're willing to do things for that money, but nothing you can reasonably be expected to do will be worth $2.32. It's a donation. You expect people to just send the money, otherwise you'd have chosen a larger amount and offered real services. By picking a lower amount you expect most people to just pony up the money without bothering to require anything in return.

And I never said that you were a con-man. I said that you might be, and frankly, I have no reason to believe otherwise. Your protestations are meaningless. And even if you're not, I still can't respect a begger.

Posted by Charybdis in Hell on Mon Nov 07, 2005 at 07:30 PM

Well, you get what you pay for...

And I guess everyone who sells stuff on ebay, or on the web is a beggar.

As for the low number, it's marketing. As for real services, the board of education president that I bill $50/hour thinks my work is real enough to pay me.

But for you, I will offer you a special deal for your $2.32. I don't know enough about your background, but I can make a few suggestions of something I can do.

1) I'll edit 2 pages of business correspondence or project writing.
2) I'll make a micro watercolor painting for you (6'x6') and scan it as a high res image just for you. My best work is landscapes, but I'm willing to try other things
3) need something researched for work? I'll do so.
4) lowered from the posted $3.25 rate on the journal, I will write you a haiku on any subject that could fit in a haiku (no 17 syllable words)

Or name something small (something that will take no more than an hour of my time) and I'll see about doing it. Certainly worth more than $2.32, but I'll prove a point with you that it isn't meaningless.

Your call now.

Posted by Caias on Mon Nov 07, 2005 at 08:01 PM

i hear many poees from you and postings about you but what about your brother who just died. No moments of remorse or regrets.....cold heartedly I wasn't close to him anyway.....what's with that...How can any one want to support you when you are so selfish.....I lost 150 lbs the same way you did and no one is supporting my plastic surgery....I even survived cancer in the middle of things.....get a real job and pay for your own surgery

Posted by db in nj on Sun Feb 12, 2006 at 03:39 PM

Dear DB,

The journal you are reading (CaiasVersion2) that has no mention of my brother is the one I use for the surgery fundraising/information. The other journal is my personal one.

It is mostly 'friends only' and has mentions of my brother. I consider my feelings on my brother to be private, and certainly not something that others should be subjected to or even worried about. As for 'regrets', it is the life he and I had, nothing more nothing less. Remorse... that's a private matter as well. You want a eulogy, you should have come to the funeral.

You want one from me, I can't help that because I don't have to justify my feelings to you. Since you can't even identify yourself, I can't even attribute anything to you except that you like to hide anonymously behind the internet to make comments. Brave showing there.

BTW, I have a 'real job'. I also have consulting work.

Oh, and two parents to now see through the loss of a son.

Congrats on surviving cancer and your weight loss. Now if you can just work on not being someone who has to lash out at people behind the anonymity of the internet, you might be a wonderful person. But I doubt it.

Posted by Caias on Sun Feb 12, 2006 at 04:31 PM

Most of these comments address the definition of begging for money and the majority of the rest blather on about ethics and the such.

Unfortunately, very few of these comment authors have known "Caias" Ward beyond his site and his claims.

I have known the man since before he legally changed his name from Brian to Caias. He has always presented himself as a math prodigy, financially well off(thanks to a long-term high-paying solid job), and an imaginative, creative writer.

Let's look at Brian/Caias in the harsh light of reality:
Yes he did lose a great deal of weight. Chances are that he actually did lose the poundage he claims. But he lost that massive amount of weight over the course of several months during which he disappeared from view. When he resurfaced, it was the general consensus that he had the fat sucked out of him. The hanging skin was what was left over after he was vacuumed.

Honest?
Have you seen his pictures? He claimed that he had become a semi-professional wrestler in New Jersey. When he was still obese, he would consistently claim that the mass he carried was solid muscle. Though he is a skilled "talespinner", all that have known him over the years have listened to his stories with far more than a grain of salt.

Integrity?
There is more than one person that knows Caias as an idea thief. He makes it a habit to either engage in conversation with highly creative writers, or eavesdrop on others. It's well-known in several circles that he has shamelessly plagiarized written works, as well as stolen ideas in development for his own gain.

When confronted, he always claims the ideas came to him independently, and that he had no recollection of talking about, or listening to, the ideas and developing projects of others.

Is he serious about wanting surgery to remove the excess skin? Even with what I know of the unethical, deceitful, self-aggrandizing behavior of the guy...Yes, I believe he is honestly asking for others to pay for what he could easily afford himself.

Posted by BrianWatcher in Philadelphia on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 05:04 PM

And now, pretty much the end of the road.

Some bumps and bruises aside, dealing with other issues (including the death of my brother and parents' medical problems) and assorted chaos, I got the procedure in the end of January.

Fortunately, I've been engaging in Brazilian Jiujitsu these past year and a half and it has helped shrink my skin a bit as well as lose more weight and add more muscle. I didn't need a full body lift but some other tightening for the stomach (Vaser) that will cost about 4200 dollars. Certainly better than the 15k I would have needed for a full body lift.

Between money I saved and work I did for people (and about 150 dollars in 'donations', a part of which I ended up doing work in kind for anyway), I have that amount. For those who were supportive, thank you. For those who were not, especially my anonymous watchers who make claims but can't actually prove a thing, oh well.

This is a pic from end of October. Actually lost about 15 pounds since this was taken (the last part is always the hardest).

At the end of March (about 2 months past surgery) skin continues to shrink; we did ultrasound to break up indurations and now they are using laser treatments to pull the skin in more. I have a much better body contour at this point.

Some things I learned:

No matter what you do, some people will hate you no matter what.

I would have had this money in five weeks if I were a 19 year old girl looking for breast implants.

I'm not perfect, but neither are you. Still, I can be happier with myself and do things towards that end. I'd hope you would do the same.